CLAIM: People near wind turbines suffer from headaches, sleeplessness, and other negative side effects.

FACT: No credible medical source has verified these affects, and sound experts have criticized such claims.

A 2012 study from Massachusetts determines, "There is no evidence for a set of health effects from exposure to wind turbines that could be characterized as a 'Wind Turbine Syndrome.'" (Source: Massachusetts Departments of Environmental Protection, Public Health, http://1.usa.gov/zoZPdk)

Robert Dobie, a clinical professor of otolaryngology at both the University of Texas-San Antonio and the University of California, Davis, wrote a joint op-ed in the Oregonian with two other sound and health experts. He describes "Wind Turbine Syndrome" as "the discredited hypothesis of a single wind opponent, Nina Pierpont, whose self-published work has been widely criticized by sound experts." (Source: The Oregonian, http://bit.ly/e2mBAE)

Dr. Dobie, along with David M. Lipscomb, Ph.D and Robert J. McCunney, M.D. conclude in their op-ed, "While there are legitimate issues worth debating with regard to wind energy development, public health impacts are not among them." (Source: The Oregonian, http://bit.ly/e2mBAE)

A 2010 study from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council notes, "Dr. Pierpont's assertions are yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, and have been heavily criticized by acoustic specialists." (Source: Australia NHMRC, http://bit.ly/TUkVOS)

There are at least 17 reviews of the available evidence about wind farms and health. Simon Chapman, Professor of Public Health at University of Sydney, examined these reviews and concluded that "wind turbines can annoy a minority of people in their vicinity, but that there is no strong evidence that they make people ill." (Source: University of Sydney, http://bit.ly/A9N7bi)

A search for "wind turbine syndrome" in the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health's 22 million citations for literature in the fields of biomedicine and health returns zero results. (Source: PubMed, NCIB, http://1.usa.gov/StdOO3)

No credible medical source has verified these affects, and sound experts have criticized such claims.

A review conducted by Dora Anne Mills, MD, MPH Maine CDC/DHHS for the state of Maine found "no evidence in peer-reviewed medical and public health literature of adverse health effects from the kinds of noise and vibrations heard by wind turbines other than occasional reports of annoyances, and these are mitigated or disappear with proper placement of the turbines from nearby residences." (Source: Maine Department of Health and Human Services, http://1.usa.gov/UCzfRg)

Wind turbine siting rules are specially designed to prevent annoyance from noise. For example, in Oregon, a new wind energy facility cannot increase outdoor hourly median sound levels by the greater of 36 dBA or 10 dBA over existing background levels. This is equivalent to the sound level of a quiet suburban nighttime. (Source: Oregon Public Health Division, http://1.usa.gov/S4P5Ci)